Brian C. Rittmeyer stories, Page 6
Shoppers return to Ross Park Mall as police continue to investigate shootout in parking lot
People were shopping, eating and walking at Ross Park Mall on Wednesday, a sunny morning after a shootout Tuesday night in the mall’s parking lot left at least one person hurt. Gene Pancheri and his wife, Antoinette, of Pittsburgh were among the mall walkers getting in their steps, as they...
Etna, Reserve should form regional police department, study finds
A state study recommends that Etna and Reserve form a regional police department, while also finding that doing so will cost each municipality more for police services. The Governor’s Center for Local Government Services at the state Department of Community and Economic Development prepared the report at the request of...
Crash closes Route 28 North between Millvale, Etna
Route 28 coming out of Pittsburgh is jammed because of a crash. The crash happened around 4 p.m., closing the northbound lanes between the Millvale and Etna interchanges, a PennDOT spokesman said. The crash was cleared and the road began reopening around 4:40 p.m., but traffic remained congested from the...
Shaler Area parents, residents pose questions, offer opinions on proposed reconfiguration
A proposed reconfiguration of the Shaler Area School District built around closing its elementary school has been met with a mixture of public support and opposition, along with questions and concerns. Superintendent Bryan O’Black took questions and comments from residents Monday at Shaler Area High School after giving a presentation...
Police searching for driver of vehicle stolen in Ross, crashed in Shaler
Police were looking for a person who fled after crashing a stolen vehicle Tuesday morning in Shaler. According to Ross police, its officers followed a stolen vehicle out of Ross into Shaler and tried to stop it on Mt. Royal Boulevard near the Shaler North Hills Library. Shaler police deployed...
Ross Citizens Police Academy aims to increase understanding between officers, citizens
For nearly 30 years, Bob Breen helped hire law enforcement officers as part of his work with the Pennsylvania Civil Service Commission. That included state police troopers, parole and probation officers, and Game Commission officers, he said. Now that Breen’s retired, the Ross resident is getting a glimpse inside the...
Drone flown over Ross Park Mall in effort to find abandoned and orphaned wells
An effort to find abandoned and orphaned gas wells in parts of Southwestern Pennsylvania took to the sky Sept. 21 over Ross Park Mall. The flights, conducted before the mall opened, marked the start of field work to survey parts of Ross and Shaler along with areas of North Fayette...
Shaler Area High School assistant principal starts work month ahead of formal hiring approval
The Shaler Area School Board approved hiring an assistant principal for the district’s high school about a month after he started working. While the district says it followed “standard protocol” in hiring the administrator, it’s a practice that should not be, says Melissa Melewsky, media law counsel for the Pennsylvania...
Drone flown over Ross Park Mall in effort to find abandoned and orphaned wells
An effort to find abandoned and orphaned gas wells in parts of Southwestern Pennsylvania took to the sky Sunday morning over Ross Park Mall. The flights, conducted before the mall opened, marked the start of field work to survey parts of Ross and Shaler along with areas of North Fayette...
Butler County police incident ends in standoff in Pittsburgh North Side neighborhood
A police incident that started in Butler County early Sunday morning ended with a roughly three-hour standoff in Pittsburgh’s North Side neighborhood. Pittsburgh officers went to the 100 block of Parkhurst Street, near Allegheny General Hospital, just before 5 a.m. to help Cranberry and state police after a man barricaded...
Man shot during altercation at Brookline nightclub, Pittsburgh police say
A 27-year-old man was shot at a nightclub in Pittsburgh’s Brookline neighborhood early Sunday morning, according to Pittsburgh police. The man arrived at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital by private vehicle just before 2:30 a.m., police said. He had been shot once in the hip. He was taken to another hospital, where...
Rodent infestation contributes to shutdown of Squirrel Hill Thai street food restaurant
An Allegheny County Health Department inspector shut down a Thai street food restaurant in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood after finding its kitchen was overwhelmingly contaminated by rodent droppings. The department on Tuesday ordered the closure of Took Took 98 on Murray Avenue. While the restaurant said on its Facebook page...
‘I don’t want it to end,’ says Pink Day organizer as she retires from planning popular Leechburg festival
Sherry Price was feeling relief tinged with a little sadness as Leechburg’s 14th annual Pink Day was underway around her Saturday. As people from near and far flocked to the borough’s Market Street for a day of fun for a good cause, Price knew it was the last one she’d...
Shaler Area plan calls for closing elementary school, changing where some grades are housed
The Shaler Area School District has prepared a plan that calls for closing the district’s elementary school and changing where some grade levels are housed. The district announced Thursday that it will present the plan, called “Building for Tomorrow,” during a community forum beginning at 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 29,...
PennDOT schedules informational meetings on I-79 Wexford interchange project
Traffic restrictions and future work plans for a redesign of the Wexford interchange on Interstate 79 will be discussed at two meetings next week in Franklin Park, PennDOT announced Wednesday. Two sessions will be held, from 3:30 to 5 p.m. and 5:30 to 7 p.m., on Sept. 24 at Saints...
Model railroad museum in Richland preps for holiday show as construction on addition continues
Construction of an addition to the Western Pennsylvania Model Railroad Museum in Richland won’t derail its holiday train show. The 37th annual show is slated to run from Nov. 8 to Jan. 11 at the museum on Route 910 at Lakeside Drive, museum President Ray Mueser said. Work will still...
Pine-Richland administrators recommend tax increase as district faces $4.9 million deficit
The Pine-Richland School District could seek to increase property taxes by more than its state-imposed inflation limit as it grapples with a nearly $5 million deficit for the 2026-27 school year. Superintendent Brian Miller said he and Christopher Juzwick, the district’s director of finance and operations, are recommending at least...
Pine-Richland approves superintendent’s performance rating, salary increase
The Pine-Richland School Board has approved a pay increase for Superintendent Brian Miller. In finding that Miller had met performance standards for the 2024-25 academic year, the board set his salary at $221,707. That’s a 2.5% increase from the $216,300 salary the board set for Miller in August 2024 when...
Shaler Area School Board considers reduced scope of work for middle school
Building renovations at Shaler Area Middle School have been reduced in cost from more than $20 million to about $8.2 million over the next three years. While still replacing the school’s entire roof, HVAC work would be limited to replacing two or three of the units in the worst condition...
‘Trash wheel’ could soon be installed to remove litter from Pittsburgh river
Stewards of Western Pennsylvania waterways are hoping a machine being used to prevent litter from polluting the Baltimore harbor could help keep the Steel City’s rivers clean. Two nonprofit organizations, Allegheny CleanWays and Three Rivers Waterkeeper, are working on bringing a “trash wheel” to the Monongahela River near Hazelwood. Powered...
Suspect in Robinson stabbing dies in crash on Route 576, police say
A man died in a crash on Route 576 in South Fayette after police say he stabbed a woman and a boy in Robinson Township Sunday morning. According to Allegheny County Police, the stabbing in the 100 block of K Row in Robinson was reported shortly after 8 a.m. First...
Connellsville Middle School teacher accused of exchanging nude photos with 14-year-old
A middle school teacher from Mount Pleasant is accused of exchanging nude photos with a 14-year-old child. Ashley Mongell, 30, is a seventh grade science teacher at Connellsville Area Middle School. State police said they began investigating Mongell and her contact with the child after Instagram made a report to...
Brooklyn man arrested after state police say he extorted $102K from Beaver County victim
A Brooklyn man is being held in the Beaver County Jail after state police say he stole more than $100,000 from a person in Aliquippa. State police charged Xinhua Chen, 35, with felony counts of theft by deception and extortion. At an arraignment Saturday morning, he was denied bail as...
Beer ‘brings people together’ at 1st of Pittsburgh Brewing’s Oktoberfest days in East Deer
Gus Scalo didn’t win a stein-holding competition at Pittsburgh Brewing in East Deer on Saturday, but he showed that beer who the boss was by chugging it after bowing out. “It looks a lot easier than it is,” he said. “I’m feeling it, man, I’m feeling it.” The stein-holding competition...
Kiski Township man, 19, dies in North Apollo crash
A 19-year-old man died in a crash in North Apollo late Friday night. The Armstrong County Coroner’s Office identified the man as Jace Albert Hoe III, of Kiski Township. The crash, at Pegtown Avenue and River Road, was reported shortly before 10 p.m., an Armstrong County 911 dispatcher said. Hoe...
